Intentions to Marry, 1911 Auckland, Taranaki

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840445, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

1911 is bound in three volumes - Auckland, Taranaki, (1911a), Hawke's Bay, Wellington, Marlborough, Nelson, Westland (1911b), and Canterbury, Otago, Chatham Islands (1911c).

Page 863

District of Stratford Quarter ending 30 September 1911 Registrar S. H. James

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

18 July 1911

William Henry Gray
Martha Cecilia Uhlenberg

William Henry Gray
Martha Cecilia Uhlonberg
💍 1911/5659

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

22
19

Midhurst
Midhurst

18 months
19 years

Roman Catholic Church at Stratford

11/5517

Frank Uhlenberg, father

18 July 1911

Rev. P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	37
Date of Notice	18 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William Henry Gray	Martha Cecilia Uhlenberg
BDM Match (98%)	William Henry Gray	Martha Cecilia Uhlonberg
	💍 1911/5659
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	22	19
Dwelling Place	Midhurst	Midhurst
Length of Residence	18 months	19 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church at Stratford
Folio	11/5517
Consent	Frank Uhlenberg, father
Date of Certificate	18 July 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

22 July 1911

Hugh Beal Duckett
Lilian Richardson

Hugh Cecil Duckett
Lilian Richardson
💍 1911/6333

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer

28
21

Stratford
Stratford

2 years
2 years

Holy Trinity Church, Stratford

11/6156

22 July 1911

Rev. W. A. Butter, Church of England

No	38
Date of Notice	22 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Hugh Beal Duckett	Lilian Richardson
BDM Match (92%)	Hugh Cecil Duckett	Lilian Richardson
	💍 1911/6333
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer
Age	28	21
Dwelling Place	Stratford	Stratford
Length of Residence	2 years	2 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Stratford
Folio	11/6156
Consent
Date of Certificate	22 July 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Butter, Church of England

30 July 1911

Manson Theodore West
Ruth Manley

Manson Theodore West
Ruth Manley
💍 1911/8495

Widower
Widow

Dairy Factory Manager

51
47

Dalefield
Ngaere

6 years
16 years

Primitive Methodist Church, Stratford

11/8501

30 July 1911

Rev. B. Metson, Primitive Methodist

No	39
Date of Notice	30 July 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Manson Theodore West	Ruth Manley
	💍 1911/8495
Condition	Widower	Widow
Profession	Dairy Factory Manager
Age	51	47
Dwelling Place	Dalefield	Ngaere
Length of Residence	6 years	16 years
Marriage Place	Primitive Methodist Church, Stratford
Folio	11/8501
Consent
Date of Certificate	30 July 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. B. Metson, Primitive Methodist

9 August 1911

Robert John Jenkin
Phyllis Constance Annie Inston

Robert John Jenkin
Phyllis Constance Annie Inston
💍 1911/6334

Bachelor
Spinster

Butcher

26
21

Wanganui
Midhurst

2 years
6 years

All Saints' Church, Midhurst

11/6157

9 August 1911

Rev. W. A. Butter, Church of England

No	40
Date of Notice	9 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Robert John Jenkin	Phyllis Constance Annie Inston
	💍 1911/6334
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Butcher
Age	26	21
Dwelling Place	Wanganui	Midhurst
Length of Residence	2 years	6 years
Marriage Place	All Saints' Church, Midhurst
Folio	11/6157
Consent
Date of Certificate	9 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Butter, Church of England

12 August 1911

William James Demchy
Maggie Brown

William James Deneby
Maggie Brown
💍 1911/6335

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

28
27

Midhurst
Cardiff

20 years
10 years

Holy Trinity Church, Stratford

11/6158

12 August 1911

Rev. W. A. Butter, Church of England

No	41
Date of Notice	12 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William James Demchy	Maggie Brown
BDM Match (93%)	William James Deneby	Maggie Brown
	💍 1911/6335
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	28	27
Dwelling Place	Midhurst	Cardiff
Length of Residence	20 years	10 years
Marriage Place	Holy Trinity Church, Stratford
Folio	11/6158
Consent
Date of Certificate	12 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. W. A. Butter, Church of England

12 August 1911

Frank Cowell
Clara Lehrke

Frank Cowell
Clara Lehrke
💍 1911/5651

Bachelor
Spinster

Labourer

27
19

Midhurst
Midhurst

14 years
12 years

Roman Catholic Church, Stratford

11/5516

Frank Lehrke, father

12 August 1911

Rev. P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

No	42
Date of Notice	12 August 1911
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Frank Cowell	Clara Lehrke
	💍 1911/5651
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Labourer
Age	27	19
Dwelling Place	Midhurst	Midhurst
Length of Residence	14 years	12 years
Marriage Place	Roman Catholic Church, Stratford
Folio	11/5516
Consent	Frank Lehrke, father
Date of Certificate	12 August 1911
Officiating Minister	Rev. P. Treacy, Roman Catholic

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1908. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).